Imbibers on the storm: Hurricane Sandy wine picks

LettieTeague

There haven’t been many ways to find comfort during Sandy or its seemingly never-ending aftermath, but, for many wine drinkers around New York, some solace could be found in a bottle — or two.

Tim Robinson/WSJ

Last Tuesday morning, the day after Sandy struck, Nick Marucci stopped by Sunrise Shoprite Wines and Liquors in Caldwell, N.J. Marucci, the store’s general manager, was planning to make sure the place was intact, but upon arrival he encountered almost 50 people waiting in line at the door. “About 50% of the people wanted to buy ice” because they’d lost power, “but the other 50% just wanted to drink,” he said.

That was certainly the case among the wine drinkers, professional and amateur, whom I contacted this week. For Juliette Pope, wine director of Gramercy Tavern, the plan was to “drink everything white” that was in the refrigerator after the power went out. And because Pope lives in the same Chelsea building as her mother and brother, there were group meals every night accompanied by wine. They turned to red when the white wine ran out.

Harmon Skurnik, president of wine distributor and importer Michael Skurnik Wines, also played host last week at his home in Long Island. He grilled every night — including the night of the hurricane’s arrival — for family and friends. (Skurnik, who did not lose power, also played innkeeper for those who had.) The group of 10 or so who met at his house every night were comforted not only by grilled dinners but by some pretty nice wines as well, including a 1993 Clos du Mont-Olivet Chateauneuf du Pape, a 2008 Brick House Pinot Noir Dijonnais and a 2010 Boyer-Martenot Meursault-Genevrieres.

Another wine importer, Victor Schwartz of VOS Selections, drank widely, and well, with friends at his home on the Upper West Side. There were wines from Sicily, Spain and the Rhone Valley of France, including a 2009 Domaine du Banneret Chateauneuf du Pape. And there was a unifying thread: They were all “soul-satisfying wines,” Schwartz said.

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